Monk

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest I never watched much of this show past the first 2 seasons, and that's only because my brother bought the first 2 season box sets on DVD and I never caught the show on TV that much, but at any rate most of what I have watched of the show is really good, IMO. I like mysteries and I like humor, and to me having a show that combines those 2 elements is pretty ingenious, and for the most part thanks to how well-written the characters are and how well-acted Monk's character is in particular, it all just works really well, for me. I've never been able to get into any of the over-abundant crime-drama shows out there, but among shows that combine crime/mystery with comedy, Monk is one of the best, IMO.

If I start making some money this Summer, I'll try to look into getting the rest of the series on DVD.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Monk is probably the best crime show there is. It can go for laughs or seriousness, and the characters carry the whole thing. It never gets overly dark and gritty or silly and goofy despite this, and never manages to lose its hook. I watched the whole series on Netflix from season 1 to 7 (or was it 8?), and the quality never really dipped.

Few shows ever achieved the balance that Monk did, and unfortunately we've yet to get a series like it since. Most drama/crime shows nowadays are either too serious with a stick up their rear (and thus, boring) or rely on silly gimmicks (like the main character being 'eccentric'- which is usually codeword for not fitting in with anything else in the show) that miss the point of why we even watch these shows.

I also have to give it to the cast on this show. They were always great.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've been re-watching a lot of this show, recently. I'm on season 4 and its just brilliant how fresh this show still manages to be without wearing itself out. Each episode is full of good humor, good acting, has great character moments, and still manages to have an interesting and well-thought-out mystery case on top of all that. Its the best detective show ever, as far as I'm concerned.

I do think that Sharona was a much more interesting assistant to Monk than Natalie, though. Its a shame that her actress left the show mid-way into season 3, but Natalie isn't a bad assistant either, so the replacement didn't bother me too much.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I like them both the same. Sharona was probably funnier, but I think Natalie was a good foil for Monk in how she often managed to make himself see how crazy he was being at times.

That said, I really liked this show. I haven't found a mystery show I've enjoyed as much since it left the airwaves.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I like them both, too, but I felt that Sharona was a better contrast to Monk, usually forcing him to "get his hands dirty," so to speak, and just plain not putting up with his crap. It just made for an interesting character interaction dynamic between the 2 since they had such an awkward chemistry that worked out in both of their favors in some strange sort of way.

Natalie on the other hand is a likable character, but she seems to be a little bit too nice to Monk compared to Sharona, if that makes any sense.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just saw the episode Mr. Monk Visits a Farm. I like that Randy actually got his own episode for once (there was also the Dentist episode, but it didn't really do anything for Randy's character), and the writers did a good job of actually having him prove himself useful without stretching things too much. I like how they made it so that Monk solved the main case and just made Randy believe that he had solved it, but it was a really nice touch at the end how Randy found the keys with the finger prints on it even when Monk overlooked that piece of evidence. It gave a little bit of genuine credibility to his character. I also kind of like how this episode was for the most part just about Monk and Randy, rather than featuring Natalie and Captain Stottlemeyer (aside from the beginning of the episode), since I just realized that we never got to see too much interaction going on between Monk and Randy. Natalie is Monk's assistant so she is almost always around him (the same goes for Sharona when she was his assistant), and he and Leland are long-time friends (whereas Randy is always Leland's right-hand man and pairs off with him), but this is the first time where I genuinely felt that Monk and Randy were working together.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy is another great episode. It showcases how much better Monk's old-fashioned detective skills are than relying on high-tech machines and gadgets. The episode itself is also like a great analogy of why I like this show than most other crime-solving shows like the various CSI shows and such. Its just far more interesting to see Monk finding and analyzing physical clues rather than a bunch of different people running DNA scans and other stuff and just trying to seem smart through techno-babble.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just re-watched Mr. Monk's 100th case. Its easily one of the funniest episodes in the show. I also really like how they got some cameo appearances from some of the old criminals that he got arrested and you got to hear their comments on Monk. The funniest part of that were the 3 guys complimenting each other on how brilliant their schemes were, and pointing out how annoying it was for them to hear Monk sum up what they did in front of them when they already clearly knew what they had done. And, of course, Randy is funny as hell to watch as always. Its definitely one of my top 10 favorite episodes in the series.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just finished re-watching the entire series (with quite a few episodes in the mix that I hadn't gotten around to seeing before on TV). Its definitely the best detective show that I've ever seen. It successfully manages to be witty and humorous while also having a dark side to it and never forgetting to be a good mystery show in the process. Later on I think I'll compile a list of my top 10 favorite episodes.

BTW, I know this is old news, but apparently the series producer/creator is in the process of making a TV movie for Monk that's supposed to air by the end of this year. If that's true then it'll sure be nice to see another feature with Monk on the TV screen again.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Can't say no to more Monk!

Really, I enjoyed the whole series. There are no crime shows on TV nearly this fun to watch, nor with such well written characters.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One thing I like is that unlike most popular shows, Monk stayed consistent in quality and only ended because Andy Breckman felt that the series had told all of the essential Monk stories that he wanted to tell. The series could have easily lasted past season 8, but Breckman and the rest of the crew chose to end the series while it was still a great series, and I think that was a great thing to do. If the upcoming TV film is really happening, it shows that it works better to just do new stories every now and then if they seem appropriate, which is much better than having a bunch of weak stories when the series is past its prime just because it gets dragged out from being popular.

Anyways, in regards to the series finale, I really liked how they didn't write it so that Monk goes completely back to normal (or as normal as he ever was relative to actual normal people) after he found Trudy's killer. Instead he still has problems but now he's finally able to make progress towards being happy again, and thus he seems to have made some genuine progress in terms of becoming more stable. Besides, a huge part of the charm of his character comes from his obsessive nature, and as Tony Shalhoub once said in an interview, Monk would be a boring character without his quirks and the series would lose its purpose if he were ever completely cured, which I definitely agree with.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I just noticed this was removed from my Netflix.  Oh well, at least I got to watch them all.

I was just talking to Avaitor about how I really enjoy the eccentric detective stories. Whether its this or Columbo, or Father Brown, I really dig the whole strange crime solved by unusual methods approach since it usually ends up having a lot of character, creative ideas, and relate-able character humor. To be honest, these are the only types of crime shows I like to watch.

[Avaitor]

I haven't seen this show honestly, but I do really enjoy Rockford.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's really good. If you still have it on your Netflix, I recommend watching a few episodes. It didn't take long for me to get hooked.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've always been a fan of this show. I used to catch it on TV all the time, and I got hooked from the moment I watched it. Of course, I'm a sucker for these over-the-top kind of mysteries, myself, but the characters in this show are great and I personally love the humor. These are also really the only type of crime shows that I'm into.